When I Think About You
by shawtie
Summary: All Human. When Bella moves to Forks, she comes to live with a cousin. She quickly befriends her new neighbors, the Cullens. BxE rated T just in case.
1. New Girl

TWILIGHT IN EDWARD POV

FANFIC 1

IN WHICH BELLA COMES TO FORKS TO LIVE WITH HER COUSIN. SHE SOON BEFRIENDS HER NEW NEIGHBORS, THE CULLENS. ALL HUMAN.

DISCLAIMER: IF I WERE STEPHENIE MEYER, I WOULDN'T BE HERE WRITING FANFICTION, I WOULD BE OUT THERE SUING THE PEOPLE WHO STOLE MIDNIGHT SUN! AND NO, I DON'T OWN ANY CHARACTERS IN TWILIGHT. HECK, I DON'T EVEN OWN ANNABETH CHASE!

CHAPTER ONE: NEW GIRL

EDWARD POV

I waited impatiently for Mr. Banner to finish his lecture. Class had technically been ended two minutes ago, but he was oblivious, as usual. I swear, the man irritated me to no end. One of these days I would snap and submit to Emmett's encouraging views on tepee-ing the Ban-Man's house with toilet paper.

Finally, something the rambling teacher said captured my interest, as well as the interest of the rest of the class. "And don't forget, class, tomorrow a new student shall be joining us here. Miss Isabella Swan. I expect you all to be good examples of how we roll here at Forks High."

Muffled giggles followed the statement, but the Biology teacher didn't appear to notice. He made a shooing motion with his hand, which dismissed us, and I headed to my last class of the day, Spanish. As I settled into my desk, just in time, the teacher began to drone. I got a weird feeling of déjà vu. Hadn't I had enough of this for one day?

Looking around, I saw random conversations popping out all over the room. No one was inclined to pay much attention to anyone in the last class of the day. Tuning out most of the murmurs, I heard the name "Isabella Swan" repeated numerous times. It was kind of sad one student could cause as much of an uproar around here as it did; she was already considered an icon of sorts, yet no one even knew what Isabella's hair color was. No on, at least, save one.

I had no idea who in their right mind (which would definitely NOT include Mr. Banner) would give up beautiful, sunny Phoenix to come to dreary, depressing Forks, but I did know whoever it was would be my new neighbor. Sitting in front of me was Isabella's cousin, Annabeth Chase. Isabella would be living with Annabeth and her father during the time she stayed here. Annabeth was conversing with Mike Newton now, who never would have paid her a second glance if he weren't interested in her cousin. Annabeth wasn't pretty; she had shoulder-length brown hair, brown eyes, a plain face and few friends, on account of the face she wasn't that friendly. Personally, I couldn't imagine why the school was excited over Isabella if she would be just like Annabeth. I leaned forward, hoping to hear something that would prove otherwise.

" – really, really, sweet," Annabeth was saying to her avid listener. "I love her so much. She's the nicest person in the world." I sensed something akin to worship in the way Annabeth talked of her cousin, and saw profound feeling in her eyes. They had to be extremely good friends as well as cousins.

"So why is she coming here?" Mike asked, with a gleam in his eyes. Suddenly, I was feeling rather protective of a girl whom I had never met in my life.

Annabeth's admiring look disappeared to be replaced by the all-too-familiar closed one. "I have no idea. You should ask her yourself," she said stiffly.

"Yeah, I think I will," Mike said, lost in thoughts of Isabella, oblivious to the new tone Annabeth was using.

I smirked to myself, as I knew something of the new girl Mike did not. Esme, motherly as always, had requested that we have dinner with the Chase family and Miss Swan tonight, so we could become better acquainted. It was difficult to schedule, as Annabeth's dad, John, was rather absent-minded and tended to forget things. Immediately. We were to go over as soon as we changed after school, as Isabella had arrived during the school day and was already in residence at the Chase house. I wouldn't be surprised if John was in bed and asleep when we arrived.

I was pulled from my train of thought as the Spanish teacher called attention to the class in an effort to recall order.

When I exited the school building, I was so eager to meet Isabella that I practically ran to my Volvo, although I knew I would just have to wait for my siblings.

Suddenly, the passenger door opened, and I watched, surprised, as my brother and best friend, Emmett, jumped in. He was early. He must have been as anxious to meet Isabella as I was.

"Yes!" Emmett crowed. "I got the front seat!" He began to demon-strate his sadly lacking dance skills.

Ok, or maybe he just wanted shotgun.

"Did you remember your booster seat?" I said sarcastically, thoroughly disgusted with Emmett's terrible dancing. The rest of my siblings were sliding into the backseat.

"Huh?" he asked, still in the middle of his groove.

I just rolled my eyes and backed out of the parking space. As we hit the main road I stomped on the gas pedal and zoomed off.

"In a hurry to get home?" Alice commented. Looking in the rear-view mirror, I saw a smirk on her face and a mischievous gleam in her eye.

"Eh, no, not really," I lied. "Just want time to change before we head next door."

"Oh my gosh, I'm so excited!" Rosalie said happily. "Alice, you have to help me decide what to wear! I want to make a _really _good impression on the new girl!"

"YAY!" Emmett shrieked. "New girl!" I was surprised his pea-sized brain could follow a conversation that long. Or maybe it was just lucky for him he had shouted that at the right time in the conversation and he had no idea what we were talking about. Yep, that was more likely. I pulled on to the dirt road that led to only two houses. Soon the road forked, and I continued along the right fork, which led to a huge mansion. We would soon be traveling along the left one to the Chase residence, which was relatively unknown. We didn't really know our neighbors, which I hoped would be remedied by Isabella's coming here. More like, I wished to get to know Isabella, at least.

"I hope she's not like Annabeth," I voiced my fears. "It'll be really hard for her to fit in."

"You mean harder for us to be friends with her," Jasper teased.

"Annabeth's not mean," Alice said. "It's not her fault that she's anti-social. Blame her father. I hear he locks himself up in his workshop all the time and doesn't talk to anyone for days."

"I guess that's true," I allowed. But there was no time to say anything more, for I had pulled into our cavernous garage, parking as far away from all the other cars as I could. You could never tell with Emmett behind the wheel. As soon as we stopped moving, Alice and Rosalie were out of the car, bolting towards the house, shouting opinions on what they thought the other should wear.

Emmett turned to me. "Edward, will you help me decide what to wear too?" he asked quite seriously.

"Erm . . ." I scrambled for an excuse. "You don't really want me to help you," I told him quickly. "Look at how sloppily I dress. Don't you want Jasper to dress you instead?" It sounded lame to me, but Emmett was nodding like he got it. Jasper shot me a look that said I would pay, but I just grinned and left him to a fate worse than death. But I could take my time; knowing the three women in the house, it would be hours before we departed, regardless of the fact that we should probably be over there greeting the new girl right now. But knowing Emmett, we would probably get to the house after the dinner we were supposed to be attending. Oh, well. Then I would just have to stab him sooner than originally planned.

I began to walk towards the house as leisurely as it was possible for me to appear under the circumstances. I didn't even know why I was so nervous; did people anticipate my family's coming three years ago as im-mensely as I was awaiting Isabella's? My anxiety intensified when I con-templated how she was almost certainly next door at this very second, expecting us to meet her within the hour. What would she think of us?

When I walked in house, I forced back a smile when I saw my father sitting at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper. He must have come home from the hospital extra early just to ensure to meet Miss Swan. Esme came whirling into the room.

"Dear? How do I look?" Carlisle looked up immediately at his wife. He must have been pretending to read the newspaper; he never gave anyone his full attention that quickly.

Esme had put on a pair of tan capris, which I thought was character-istically optimistic of her. We hadn't seen the sun in days. She also wore a nice white sweater.

"Beautiful, as always," my father was telling Esme.

"But do you think I'm dressed up enough?" Esme fretted. "Oh, it will be so awkward if they make it all formal!"

"Let's not forget it's the Chases' house we're going to," Carlisle re-assured her. Huh. Nice. So if we were seeing John, it was ok to be sloppy. Well, it was kind of true.

Just then, Carlisle saw me standing at the door. "Son, are you ready to go?" he asked. Yep, he was definitely eager to get over there.

I shrugged. "Not quite. But I don't really have to rush. What would be the point, when I would just have to wait for Emmett and Alice?"

Esme smiled. "That's true. Plus, Annabeth might not even be home from school yet."

Carlisle looked crushed at this. "Oh. Well, yes. Possibly." He went back to reading his newspaper, but I could see that his eyes never moved from one spot on the page.

I shook my head and walked two floors upstairs to my room. Chang-ing into a semi-nicer shirt than the one I wore to school, again I thought about what the new girl would think of Forks. It was sure to be different than Phoenix, although I had never visited Arizona. Still, she was going from coast to coast, or close to it. I would have to ask her why she even moved here. Maybe she could tell me about her old life, and . . .

_Stop it,_ I told myself fiercely. I hadn't even met her, and already I was fantasizing just like that idiot Mike at school. Alice probably didn't even obsess this much over her. To try and clear my thoughts, I walked out of the room and slowly downstairs.

"Edward!" a squeal stopped me. I turned, and was bodily dragged by an excited pixie into her room. "Rose and I just finished picking out what we're going to wear!" she said excitedly, bouncing up and down. "Just wait here for a second, then tell us what you think!"

She zoomed away into her giant bathroom. I sighed and sat down on her huge bed. If I tried to escape, then she would just force me back. It was kind of sad that a small little girl could have that much power. Seriously, I knew people at our school that would run when they saw Alice coming. Lots of people didn't understand her hyper personality; actually, lots of people didn't understand any of us Cullens. We had always been outsiders. I preferred my family's company, anyway, compared to any other. Our class-mates thought we were stand-offish and anti-social, but truthfully it was just that we had grown up together and didn't need any more friends. I would never need anyone else than my family.

Of course, it was a little depressing when we watched movies together. Alice with Jasper, Emmett with Rosalie, that was the way it had always been. It wasn't their fault, and I never told them how I felt over it; I was happy that they all had someone. Maybe I was just doomed to die a lame death of an old geezer. Well, it wasn't quite as lame as dying of a brain freeze.

Just then, Alice burst out of the closet, wearing an outfit I considered toned down for her. I had expected her to go all out, with some kind of prom dress thing. Instead, just a nice skirt and shirt.

"Well?" she demanded when I didn't comment immediately. "What do you think?"

"I'm disappointed, Alice," I teased. "I expected you to go over there like you were dressing up for Halloween!"

She stuck out her tongue at me. "I'm not going to be a princess today."

"Who said anything about a princess? I meant a witch."

"Very funny. I don't know what your definition of witch is, but Esme made me change once already. So I had to work out a whole new accessory set, and fix Rose's as well. The dress wasn't _that _pumpkin shaped . . ."

I laughed. "I'm glad I didn't see the first one. Where's Rose?"

Alice gestured towards her walk-in closet – bigger than her room. "Changing in there."

As she spoke, the door opened, and Rose walked out of the closet, more dignified than Alice was. She was much more casual than Alice; only jeans and a dressy shirt.

"Rose, I would have thought that you would be overdressing, just like Alice! This is completely uncharacteristic of both of you!"

She shrugged, unperturbed at my accusations. "I don't want to over-whelm her our first meeting. I'll save that for a little later."

I rolled my eyes. "Right. You do that. Let's go see how Emmett and Jasper are doing."

They followed me out the door and down the hall to my idiotic brother's room. I knocked, and entered when told to do so.

Jasper was sitting on the bed, looking harried. Emmett was nowhere in sight. He smiled, looking a bit harassed when we entered.

"Jasper," I greeted him. "You survived."

"Barely," he admitted. "I swear, you are Emmett's role model, Alice."

Alice faked an injured expression. "You say that like it's a bad thing!"

Well, it actually was, but Jasper would never tell Alice that.

"It's Emmett," he responded. "Do you want your immature brother exposed to those types of things? Especially since this is the shirt he wanted to wear."

He held up a white shirt. We all stared in surprise for a couple seconds, and burst out laughing. It was so familiar. We could all remember the day when Emmett bought it. We were in a collectibles store, just buying a present for our father. Emmett and I were fooling around. Then, he picked up a shirt and yelled out, "I WANT IT!" I thought he was kidding. We were, after all, goofing off. So I was cracking up, because the shirt looked exactly like the Puffy Shirt from the Seinfeld TV show. But then he actually bought it.

Jasper was nodding. "You see the problem."

"I was hoping he would forget about it," Alice sighed. "We can't let the horrific thing leave the house. Poor Emmett would never live it down."

"Poor Emmett, my foot," Rosalie scoffed. "You just want to spare yourself the embarrassment.

"Well, duh. Don't forget, I'm saving you from public humiliation too."

Emmett chose that moment to make his grand entrance. "Ta-da!" he crowed, delighted to have an audience. As he burst out of the closet, and posed for us all, his foot got caught on his dresser, and he went tumbling forward to land a hard blow to the ground. Simultaneously, Alice snapped a picture. I laughed.

"C'mon, Em, let's see your amazing outfit!" I said, helping him up.

He bounced up again, completely oblivious to the pretend-he's-not-your-brother looks mirrored on all my siblings' faces. He wasn't dressed too badly; Jasper had done well. When I dressed Emmett, he usually ended up in a skirt of some kind by mistake. Don't ask me why he has a skirt in his closet.

Esme walked in then. "Why Emmett, I didn't know you could look so . . . . normal!"

Jasper sniggered. I had trouble containing one myself. But the girls all had the same dumbfounded look on their faces. Rosalie spoke. "Good job, Jasper! So this will be your job every time!"

Jasper stopped snickering. "W-what?" he choked.

I stepped in. To support Esme's decision, of course. "What she means is, you did so well dressing your color-blind brother, you should do it all the time to help our family keep up appearances!" This ought to get me off Emmett's list.

Jasper started protesting immediately. I didn't blame him. I would have done the same in his place. But I didn't feel guilty. Oh no. I felt free. No more obligations to dress my stupid big brother!

Esme stopped him. "Now, let's go next door, or we'll be late," she reminded them. Again, anxiety batted at me. I sure hoped Miss Swan was what Forks was expecting. I thought again about what Annabeth had been saying earlier today. What was it? Sweet, nice . . . She wouldn't last long with the girls in this town if she had no devil side. They would eat her alive.

I walked downstairs silently beside Jasper. I expected him to be angry with me, so I didn't speak. It was rather unfair to dump the entire responsibility on him, but if I got out of it I wasn't complaining. I would much rather have pinned it on Alice or Rosalie, but then Emmett would come to school dressed like . . . I shuddered. I didn't want to think about it. I was surprised when he started talking to me.

He closed his eyes and shivered. "That was the worst experience of my life. I don't know how I'll survive the ordeal again. Next time can't he just borrow your clothes?" It was true Emmett would be closer to my size, but . . .

I shook my head fervently. "No way, man. No way am I letting Emmett infect my clothes. I'd have to burn them afterwards."

Jasper rolled his eyes, but I knew he knew that I knew that he knew the truth behind my own words. Or something like that.

Carlisle was waiting in the entrance, bouncing up and down nervously on the balls of his feet as if he'd been waiting there for hours. Which was entirely possible and probable. "Shall we take the Mercedes?" he asked us. My answer was yes. I wanted to impress Isabella as much as he did.

"It's just next door," Jasper said, surprised. "We could just walk, right?"

I elbowed him in the ribs, but Alice was saving the day. "No, Jasper, I don't want to ruin my shoes. And my clothes will get wrinkled. And my hair will get messed up." Thank you, Alice. The rest of the family consented a little too eagerly, and I bit back a smile. We were all complete suckers over Isabella Swan.

Carlisle had parked the Mercedes right outside. As close as possible to the house. That was weird. But I could empathize. The six of us squeezed in. It was tight, but I would just be awkward to bring two cars to your neighbor's house. Then I realized Emmett was still standing outside. He knocked on my window, and smiled in blissful ignorance. I groaned. "Do we have to let Emmett in?" There was no way he could fit. Unless he sat on . . . No. No.

Alice, with a lightning-fast move, opened my door for me, and then Emmett was cramming himself in next to me. But a more accurate statement would be on top of. The gratitude I had previously felt towards Alice was now gone. I made a mental note to include her on the noose with Emmett. There will be blood tonight. At least I only had to put up with no elbow room for about thirty seconds.

Carlisle drove off, and soon we were arriving at the Chase residence. It was smaller than our house, but not by that much. They just didn't have a third floor like us. Or like me, rather. I was the only one who ever went up there; I kind of had to. My room was on the top floor.

I shoved Emmett roughly. He tumbled on to the concrete. Ha. Un-believably, he bounced up again. Still smiling. Then again, he was kind of built like a two-ton Barbie cart. If it gets demented (or rocks are thrown at it) it just keeps on rolling. With a stupid Barbie face on the front.

All of us kids who had been in the back seat (not Rosalie; trust her to get what she wanted) smoothed our now-rumpled clothing, all throwing Emmett murderous glares in the process. Our family trooped up to the door. Carlisle rang the doorbell, nervously clearing his throat. As I surveyed them all, I couldn't help but wonder if Isabella would be intimidated anyway. After all, we did have a large family. I wondered how we would look in her eyes. I tried to picture it. Alice was perky. And Rosalie was prissy. And Jasper was . . . a little emo. And Emmett was retarded. Not literally, but almost.

What would she think of me? Or rather, what did _I _think of me? A hard question to answer. I had never really cared what others thought of me, but this new girl had everyone on their toes. We would just have to see if she could be a potential friend.

Just then, the door opened.


	2. New Town

CHAPTER TWO: NEW TOWN

DISCLAIMER: IF I WERE STEPHENIE MEYER, I WOULDN'T BE HERE WRITING FANFICTION, I WOULD BE OUT THERE SUING THE PEOPLE WHO STOLE MIDNIGHT SUN! AND NO, I DON'T OWN ANY CHARACTERS IN TWILIGHT. HECK, I DON'T EVEN OWN ANNABETH CHASE!

BELLA POV

I watched as the taxi pulled on to a lonely dirt road, which the cabbie informed me led to only two houses.

So far, I was disappointed with this new town. I had seen one gas station total, and nearest airport was an hour away. Way too much _green_; it was weird. Things that I had been brought up to believe were always brown were covered with strange shades of green. And there were trees. Lots and lots of trees.

Soon, the road forked, and we took the left one. "That there's where the Cullens live." Bob, the taxi driver, seemed perfectly content to be my personal tour guide. The family's name seemed familiar.

I nodded. "Annabeth said they would be coming over for dinner tonight to meet me."

"They're a nice family," Bob assured me. "The father, Carlisle, is the doctor here in Forks. He's a bit young to have kids; they're all adopted."

We approached what was to become my new home. It was very different than my home in Phoenix; the Chase family had more money, and so the house was larger. The colors seemed homier, though, an off-white shade. I liked the porch, which looked as though it wrapped around the whole house. It was a large two-story house, with the river running behind it. I loved it. But it was enormous. Easily twice the size of my house back home. The only thing it was missing to be a mansion was the third floor.

Bob helped me unload my luggage from the back, and set it on the porch. I didn't have much; I would have to go shopping, for I didn't have any clothes fit for rainy weather.

I paid Bob, and was about to turn, when he grabbed my arm. I stiffened at the physical contact. "I should warn you," he said conspiratorially, "you'll be a bit of a celebrity around here. The school has been talking about you ever since it was determined you would be coming here." He handed me his card. "Call me if you need anything at all," he said quite seriously, and with a barely suppressed shiver I realized he meant it.

I flashed him as nice a smile as I could. "Thanks," I said. He released my arm, got in his car, and drove away.

I remembered that school was still in session, so I wouldn't receive an especially warm welcome. Annabeth's dad was nice, just a little forgetful. He probably forgot all about me coming today. So, I took Annabeth's advice and used the key from under the eave to unlock the door.

I walked in, and left my luggage in the hall. There was a staircase leading up, a staircase leading down (I assumed to John's workshop), and a door ahead to the kitchen. I walked in, and was surprised that I wasn't alone.

John was reading the newspaper, standing at the counter. He looked up, and appeared even more surprised to see me as I was to see him. "Bella!" he exclaimed. "I didn't hear you knock!" He walked over and hugged me tightly.

"Uncle, it's been too long!" I said, hugging him back. I really had missed him, even if we had never really taken time to get to know each other.

"Here, let me take your things!" he said. We walked back into the hall, and he picked up one of my suitcases while I grabbed the other. He led me up the stairs, asking, "How was your flight?"

"A little tiring," I admitted. "Two flights in one day was hard."

"Mm-hm," he said, sounding absent-minded. Surprise, surprise. We passed a closed door. "My room," he explained. "The bathroom . . . closet . . . Annabeth's room . . . ah, here's yours."

He walked through the last door in the hall, on the left, and I followed. "Well, I'll leave you to unpack, then." I could tell he was itching to get back to his workshop. I smiled at him vaguely, and inspected the room. Definitely larger than my room at home. There was a large bed against one wall, with a desk and a laptop next to it. A rocking chair in the corner, next to a window overlooking the river. I walked over to it, and looked out, but couldn't see anything through the sheeting rain. I turned to my bags on the floor, but knew I couldn't unpack yet. Annabeth said that the Cullens were coming over just after school, which ended in half an hour, and that her dad was supposed to make dinner. But I was sure he had forgotten. Besides, I had to get my mind off my depression.

I wandered downstairs again, and found that the door opposite me that had led to the basement was closed. I shook my head, smiling. People were so predictable sometimes. I entered the kitchen again, and inspected the fridge to find something to make for dinner. It was pretty much empty, except for some cold-cut meat on one of the shelves. I made a mental note to get to the grocery store as soon as possible. The only thing I could make was roast. So I started it, but had nothing to do while it was cooking. I checked the clock. Annabeth should be home in ten minutes. I looked in the freezer, and found some frozen peas. Ok, I hated peas, but whatever. I put them on the stove to boil, and just then heard the front door open.

"Bella! Are you here?" I heard my cousin's voice calling.

"Annabeth!" I screamed, running down the hall to attack her with a hug. She hugged me back, actually lifting me up the ground for a second before setting me down. My cousin had always been taller than me. By about four inches.

"My God! How have you been, Bella?" she asked, watching me closely, as she led me into a doorway I recognized as the living room. We sat down.

"I've been great," I lied.

She eyed me worriedly. "And . . . you're ok with this?"

"Yes," I said brightly. "I've missed you and John. It'll be good to spend some quality time with you guys." In truth, I was a bit upset over my mother remarrying. It wasn't fair to us to be dragged around with my new father, Phil, when we were used to staying in the same place. Well, Renee was tired of being at home while Phil was away. And I could take a hint. It was easiest for them if I went to school somewhere my mother didn't have to watch me as well. But I was uncomfortable talking about it. So I changed the subject.

"How was school?" I asked in my best attempt at a casual tone.

Annabeth almost looked like she was going to laugh at my attempt to change the subject. "Fine, I guess. The same as it always is. Every day."

"Do you think I'll like it there?" I asked eagerly.

"Well, it'll be quite a bit different from Phoenix," she allowed, looking wary. At least I'd distracted her. "But it depends on whether or not you'll be comfortable with a lot of attention."

"Attention?"

"New things are rare out here. You're kind of a mini-celebrity already."

"Oh no!" I covered my face with my hands, my face already overheating just thinking about my first day. Attention is never a good thing as far as accident-prone klutzes are concerned.

"I could just tell them you're mute," Annabeth offered.

I looked up, my face still a brilliant shade of red. "Would you really do that for me?"

"C'mon, Bella, I was kidding! You would be the most popular girl in school even if you were –," she stopped abruptly. "Can you hear that?"

Now that she mentioned it, there was a strange sound audible in the background, a nasty gurgling that seemed to be emanating from the

kitchen . . .

"AAHHH!" I screamed. "MY PEAS!" I hopped up and ran as fast as I could to the room in question. On the stove, the pot which had previously contained edible food was bubbling unhealthily. "No!" I moaned, grapping a hot pad to move it off the stove and turning the ancient burner off.

"Wasn't my dad supposed to make dinner?" Annabeth said from behind me.

"He forgot," I wailed. "I couldn't very well just stand by and let the evening be ruined, could I?" I couldn't understand her expression; it looked as though she were barely containing laughter. "Don't laugh," I warned her. "Don't you _dare _laugh!"

Just then, the doorbell rang, saving Annabeth from being chewed out. She excused herself, maintaining most of her dignity, but a small giggle still managed to escape. I grabbed the demented pot and walked to the sink to attempt to scrub it out.

I heard some distant voices, but didn't really concentrate on them. I was too preoccupied with being angry to acknowledge.

"Stupid pot!" I griped at it, throwing it down in the sink with unnecessary force. "Oh, well. At least now I won't have to eat peas."

There was a paroxysm of laughter directly behind me that was quickly stifled as I turned to glower at Annabeth. "It isn't funny!" I growled. Then I blinked, distracted by the seven people grouped behind her.

It was clear Annabeth was trying not to laugh again, but this time at my embarrassment. I could feel myself flushing yet again as I registered that this must be the Cullen family. "I'll go get my dad." My traitorous cousin exited the room with yet another amused glance in my direction, deserting me.

I was so flustered by the family's sudden appearance that even the brief moment of silence seemed awkward. But a woman suddenly stepped forward and offered her hand for me to shake. "You must be Isabella," she said sincerely. "I'm Esme." She was beautiful, and quite young to have kids. They're all adopted, I remembered from Bob the cabbie.

I smiled shyly, still not quite over my embarrassment. "Please call me Bella. It's very nice to meet you."

The man stepped forward then to shake my hand. He was young as well, blonde, and very handsome. Looking around, I noticed the entire family was quite beautiful. "I'm Carlisle. And these are our kids. This is Alice, Rosalie, Jasper, Emmett, and Edward," the doctor said, motioning to each in turn. There was no way I would be able to keep them all straight. They were all freakishly tall. Annabeth was taller than me, but this family towered over me. Except for Alice. I towered over her.

Annabeth chose that time for her father and herself to make their grand entrance. It appeared that John remembered his manners for once. Maybe he behaved himself when company was present, myself excluded.

My uncle stepped forward. "I'm glad you could make it, Dr. Cullen, Cullen family," he said with a warm smile. "Why don't you join Annabeth and Bella in the living room while I get this cleared up?"

I disagreed with that immediately. "I made this mess, I'm going to clean it up. _You _can all go in there, and I'll stay in here."

John and the Cullen parents moved towards the door, but Annabeth and the others stayed. "I'll help you," she offered.

"Why don't _you _make the peas, seeing as I've already reduced them to inedible rubble once today?" I suggested, turning back to the sink to continue washing out the pot.

"Okay." I could hear the smile in her voice as she got a new pot out. Darn it. I would still have to eat peas. I heard her say indifferently, "You can go in the other room if you like." I'd almost forgotten the Cullen kids were still here.

"Can we help at all?" the small one, Alice, asked. As I looked at her nice skirt, I immediately felt underdressed. _I thought it was just a casual dinner, for goodness sake! Don't they do this often?_ But evidently jeans and a T-shirt were all right, as Annabeth was dressed like me.

"No, we got it," was my cousin's confident answer.

I immediately felt guilty. "You know, Annabeth, I'm sorry about the . . . well, I'm sorry about what was formerly a perfectly good pot."

She laughed it off. "I don't really care. We have like twenty pots like that. Besides, it's my fault. I distracted you."

I just shook my head, mortified by what I had managed to do in just half an hour of living in my new house.

"I like your necklace," Alice said conversationally. I immediately liked her. It was nice to try to ease my discomfort.

"Thanks," I said, smiling at her. "It was a going away present from my mom."

The tall blonde boy sat down in one of the kitchen chairs. "How old are you, Bella?"

"I'm seventeen. And I'm afraid I don't remember your name."

He laughed. "I'm Jasper." Suddenly, I felt very calm, and it seemed very natural to be standing in a kitchen in a house I had just moved in half an hour ago washing a pot I had destroyed five minutes ago talking to complete strangers I had just met two minutes ago. But then the really big, muscular boy was speaking.

"You'll be joining Edward and Alice's year, then," he said, gesturing towards them. For some reason, both were looking at the speaker with a look of amazement on their faces. "I'm Emmett," he said with a grin, catching my look of confusion.

"Wow. You're really tall," I said automatically, then blushed for my tactlessness.

They all laughed. "That's what Alice says, too," the pretty blonde girl said. "I'm Rosalie."

Then the last Cullen smiled at me. He had bronze hair, and bright green eyes. "I'm Edward."

I surveyed them all. "It's really nice to actually know some people before I start school. Then it won't be completely awkward."

"I'll help you, Bells," Annabeth reassured me.

"And we will too," Alice promised instantly.

I bit my lip and went back to scrubbing my accident. "Tell me something," I blurted out, probably sounding accusatory in my irritation. I worked to make my tone sound detached. "Is it true that I'm a" –I put my quotation marks up – " 'mini celebrity' around the school already?"

"I guess that's one way of putting it," Alice said, with a startled glance at Annabeth. "Is that a problem?" With a jolt, I realized that was the first time that any of them had taken any notice of my cousin. What was going on?

"Yes!" I moaned. I dropped the pot back in the sink, spraying us all with soap suds. My earlier hopes that Annabeth was exaggerating were shattered. "This is _so _not fair!" I cried, stamping my foot. "Why? _Why? _What have I done to deserve this?"

"She doesn't like attention," I heard my cousin explaining to our bewildered visitors. "But I don't see why; she should be used to attention by now."

"No, I shouldn't," I groaned. But I wasn't really paying attention, so I didn't ask what Annabeth meant by that. I was preparing my mind for the horrors that were to come tomorrow. Why did I have to move to a _small _town where schools are tiny and cabbies are almost retarded because they are so friendly?

"It's not going to be _that _bad," Rosalie said with amusement. Easy for her to say. She looked as though she wouldn't mind being the center of attention. Well, she didn't have to worry about tripping, unlike others of us present.

"Why do you not want to be paid a lot of attention?" Edward asked curiously. I couldn't understand his tone; there was a deep level of fascination underlying the casual question.

Annabeth changed the subject quickly, saving me from further embarrassment. "Why don't you tell them what electives you have so you can see if you have any classes together?" she suggested. In that moment she was honestly the most wonderful person in the world.

"I actually don't know," I admitted ruefully. "They're supposed to sign me up for random things. I don't really care. My ultimate goal at this point is surviving the week. The outlook is quite bleak."

"You don't know?" Alice demanded. "Well then, you should know mine!" And she proceeded to rattle off her entire schedule for me, including commenting on the more-known people in each class and pointing out which were dolts, geeks, idiots, and preppies. Were there any nice people? She proceeded to tell me which teachers were good, which were bad, and which were gay. I couldn't remember anything she told me; I just had to look as though I were paying attention, kind of like with the cabbie. I was distracted momentarily thinking of how odd it was that Alice and Bob had things in common. I came out of my lapse of concentration in time to hear the last part. "Most of your classes will be with me and Edward, since we're both juniors. And Emmett, too, since there was some kind of glitch in his schedule and he got put in classes a year younger than he should have. Carlisle and Esme actually let him stay in the classes, but I think it's just because they worry about him. Frankly, I do too."

I didn't really know what to say to that. Emmett was smiling happily and nodding, which was just proof that what Alice said was true. I could feel all their eyes on me, even though I was scrubbing a pot, so I felt compelled to say something. "Um . . . good to know?"

I could hear some stifled sniggers from behind me, but I didn't care. I was frustrated. It was this pot's fault, not mine.

"Okay, Annabeth! This pot is getting _really _annoying! IT DOESN'T WANT TO BE CLEAN!"

My cousin laughed. "I would've given up a long time ago," she assured me. Thanks, Annabeth. "You can just throw it out."

I heaved a sigh of relief, and dropped it in the trash can with a satisfying clang, then jumped on the counter next to Annabeth, facing the Cullens.

I thought of something else. "How many lunches do you have at the school?"

Alice looked confused. "Lunches?"

"Yeah, you know, how there are too many people to all eat at the same time, so we eat at different times? In Phoenix there were five lunches."

Everyone laughed. "There's not as many people at our school," Annabeth explained, still chuckling. "We all eat at the same time."

"You're kidding!" I couldn't believe this. One lunch? How was that possible? The school would explode! At least I was sure to know people at my lunch now. And there would be no leftover food from the previous lunch to step on. Ick.

Just then, the oven made an abnormal grinding noise, and we all jumped, except for Annabeth.

"What the hell was that?" The curse sounded kind of strange coming from Alice, the pixie-like innocent one, although she was starting to seem less and less innocent as I spent more time with her.

"Alice!" Rosalie scolded. Jasper and Edward rolled their eyes at her. Emmett had pulled his legs up on his chair and was looking around with a terrified expression. Hmm. I was beginning to interpret both the strange looks the siblings gave him when he said something partially intelligent and the glitch in his schedule.

"Roast's done!" Annabeth announced cheerfully.


	3. Bella Swan

TWILIGHT IN EDWARD POV

DISCLAIMER: If I were Stephenie Meyer, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction, I'd be suing the people who stole Midnight Sun! And no, I don't own any characters. I don't even own Annabeth Chase!

**A/N: Yay! My first Author's Note!! I would have added one sooner, but I kinda forgot on the other chapters . . . and I'm too lazy to edit them . . . so yeah. **

**And I want to point out a mistake. Heh heh. On the first chapter, I accidentally wrote in all caps, TWILIGHT IN EDWARD POV. Yeah, whoops. Like I said I'm too lazy to change it. And don't ask me why I wrote that, cuz I don't know myself. So just disregard that . . . but I'm sure you already have or you wouldn't be reading this . . . anyway . . .**

CHAPTER THREE: BELLA SWAN

EDWARD POV

As we sat down to dinner in the Chase's seldom-used dining room (the dirty table was covered with a large tablecloth), my eyes flickered in Bella's direction yet again. To my disappointment, she was at the opposite end of the table. I didn't have a prayer of speaking with her at all. I just wanted to get to know her. She was fascinating. I couldn't fathom why she was averse to attention.

Carlisle was next to Bella, with Alice on the other side of her. I felt a brief flicker of jealousy that they were talking to her and I was not. I could see Alice bonding with Bella more and more each second. I watched the way she would use cute hand motions to accompany whatever she was saying. I noticed the way her eyes seemed to sparkle. I fantasized how it would be when she was speaking to _me, _her beautiful eyes twinkling and her looking up at me with a smile on her face. I imagined her smiling then, and my breath caught in my throat.

Something Bella said to Alice made them both laugh lightly, and Alice added something that made Bella blush yet again. I smiled. It was amusing how often her easy blush showed itself. Apparently, she was embarrassed quite frequently. I wondered idly if that was why she was so self-conscious. But Annabeth had implied that she was the center of attention a lot. And I could definitely see why.

I just had to see if someone thought the same. I looked at Emmett, shoveling food in his mouth as fast as he could. Someone with a capacity of more than one brain cell. I turned to Jasper. "What do you think of Bella?" I asked quietly. I didn't want her to overhear and become embarrassed again.

Jasper looked thoughtful as he replied, "Well, obviously I like her a lot . . . who couldn't?" Suddenly, I was angry. How could he like her so much already? It was unhealthy! He was continuing. "I think we'll probably be seeing a lot more of her around our house."

Oh, I hoped so. And I berated myself for being so hypocritical. I thought her a hundred times more attractive than Jasper had voiced out loud, and I had never actually had a conversation with her yet!

Jasper turned unwisely to the only non-intelligent life form in the room. "What do you think, Emmett?"

We both looked at him, but he was busy, jamming food non-stop into his mouth. I stared at him, a look of disgust growing. When Emmett finally noticed our incredulous gazes, he stopped, his mouth bulging. "Awe yoo tawking tooo miii?" he said with difficulty.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, that's why he said Emmett," I told him sarcastically.

I should have told him to just forget it, as he was obviously very preoccupied. But of course, I didn't think to do that. And I was punished for it.

Emmett opened his mouth to reply to Jasper's innocent query. I got a visual of the inside of Emmett's mouth more detailed than I had ever wanted. His teeth were completely obscured by all the half-eaten food still not swallowed. Time seemed to travel in slow motion as Emmett attempted speech. I could see globs of food coming towards me at an alarming speed. I closed my eyes just in time as they splattered against my face sickeningly. I opened them again to find Emmett's mouth about half as full as it had been previously. Jasper must have braved the worst of the missiles. He was, after all, closer. Then I heard Emmett's assessment of Bella.

"The roast is delicious," he proclaimed, no difficulty speaking now his mouth had been somewhat emptied.

"Wow, Emmett. Quite a bit of orbital trajectory on that one," I said, working to make my tone sound pleasant. But he was concentrating on his food again. There was a time and place to strangle my obscene sibling, but it was not now.

"The force was good, too. Easily a perfect ten." I had no doubt that Jasper would be the one to knot the hanging noose around Emmett's thick neck.

The said criminal was oblivious to us again, having said his one intelligent sentence for the day, and busy eating once more. Jasper and I exchanged glances, and reached for our napkins in unison. I caught sight of Bella, and again I was entranced by her flawless features. She was positively radiant, smiling and talking to Alice still.

I couldn't believe how lucky Forks was to have her. Weren't we kind of insignificant to be home to an upper-class citizen? All the other girls I knew would pale in comparison to her beautiful figure. I thought of school on the morrow, and how the student population would react to her. She would mesmerize them all, of course, even more easily than she had ensnared my family. It wasn't her fault she was so lovable. But I still felt ridiculously overprotective, like a big brother. But not quite. A little different.

Without a doubt, she would be the center of attention tomorrow. And the day after that. And for who knows how long. Novelties here were few and in between. The downside of living in a small town. But there were de-finitely advantages to attending a small school. Maybe I would be lucky enough to share a few classes with her. And at lunch, she could sit with my family. And I would finally be able to talk with her.

The meal passed too quickly for my taste; I was entertained just by watching Bella. Tomorrow, far too many curious eyes would be upon her in addition to my own. As we all rose, Carlisle excused our family hastily, saying that he had a big day at the office tomorrow, and didn't Bella want to get a good night's sleep before her first day? Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her roll her eyes. I could sympathize. It would be impossible for me to sleep tonight, as well, but I would be anticipating seeing her again instead of school.

Our family made our way to the door as slowly as humanly possible. I could tell the others were as loath to leave as I was. But it would be polite to leave now. They hadn't even had a proper reunion with Bella yet.

We were out on the porch now, and Alice was actually hugging Bella goodbye. I heard her say, "Do you want a ride to school tomorrow? We can give you one!"

My heart skipped a beat, but Bella was laughing and shaking her head. "And how would there be room for six people in a car when Emmett is one of the six?"

Oh, believe me, you'd be surprised.

But she was continuing. "Annabeth said that we would take our own car to school every day. Thanks for the offer, though."

Alice didn't look put off in the slightest. "Okay! And if you ever want to come over and we can do our homework together, just call anytime! And if you just want to talk about something, just call! You can tell me any-,"

"Alice! Let's not scare the poor girl off."

"Right. Sorry. I'll see you tomorrow, kay?"

Again, we all piled in the car. But this time, instead of being squished by Emmett, Jasper made Alice sit on his lap. I was a lot more comfortable this time, but more embarrassed by the fact that Bella and Annabeth were standing on the porch, laughing their heads off. Granted, we must look quite comical, but it would have been funnier if they had been present for the first car ride. Bella's laughter was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard; I committed it to memory, saving this moment of Emmett's elbow jammed in my ribs. Characteristically, John was nowhere in sight. I felt bad for the girls; they would have to clean everything up on their own.

My last glimpse of the house was one of Annabeth saying something to Bella, and her flushing while looking pleased at the same time. Her eyes sparkled somehow, even in the darkening night. Then she replied to Anna-beth's statement, and laughed again.

And then we drove away, to next door.

I was in my room, on my couch, staring up at the ceiling. All the gloomy thoughts I had managed to suppress in the Chase house were flooding through my mind now. How much attention Bella would get tomorrow . . . how hard it would be to get her to sit with us at lunch . . . how the superficial girls would manipulate her . . . how the male population would obsess over her . . .

I was interrupted from my masochistic thinking by a knock on the door, followed immediately by a whirlwind blowing into my room. Alice bounced over and sat on the arm of the couch by my feet.

I looked at her questioningly, but part of my thoughts were still chan-neled down a darker path. Some of it must have been mirrored on my face, for Alice said chirpily, "Don't get all grumpy with me! Before you kick me out, I just want to know how much you like Bella."

"Why do you want to know?" I asked guardedly. There was no way I would give any clue with how much I had been worrying about what would transpire tomorrow.

She rolled her eyes. "Silly! I've been asking everyone! Well, except Emmett, of course. I just thought I'd save you for last since you're the hard-est to please. Based on your views of other people, I'm guessing you have some kind of problem with Bella that the rest of us overlooked?"

Oh, so that's how it's going to be. "And I'm guessing she has some kind of problem with small, annoying little girls who like to shop so much they don't care whose money they use?"

Alice clutched a hand to her heart. "Ouch! I never use anyone's money! Well, Jasper's sometimes, but that's okay. And Carlisle and Esme's, but they're parents. Where do you think the money comes from? And I've used Rose's a few times when I ran out on a shopping trip. . . And with Emmett it doesn't count because he'll just give it to you and think YOU'RE doing HIM a favor. . . Okay, fine. But that's different; it's family. What's theirs is mine. I wouldn't use my friend's spending money." Uh-huh. Right. "You didn't answer the question."

I answered as casually as possible, though my heart was thumping. "No, I haven't seen any problems with Bella that are impossible for our family to cope with." Dang it. It came out all formal. Now she's sure to suspect something.

"But do you like her?" Alice persisted.

"Of course."

"Should I ask her to sit with us at lunch?"

My immediate response was going to be a hearty yes, and then a parade around the room. But when I opened my mouth, I saw triumph written all over Alice's face. She wanted me to say how much I liked Bella, even though it was completely obvious. Well, I wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

"Won't she want to socialize with other people?" I speculated, although it pained me in my chest to say it. "She'll probably sit with her cousin, or with other classmates."

Alice looked sorely disappointed, part of which was due to my non-chalant response that gave no hint of the emotion burning inside me, with the other part seeing the accidental truth in my words. Despite the innocent query being chiefly a ploy, she really had wanted Bella to sit with us.

"Okay, I guess you're right," she conceded reluctantly. I breathed a sigh of relief internally at the submission in her eyes.

"I'm guessing I don't even have to ask how much you like her?" I teased. "It was pretty apparent that you found your new best friend. Did you talk to anyone else even once the whole time we were over there?"

"Of course! I would never ignore everyone in the house for the sake of speaking to only one person! I talked to . . . um . . . Carlisle . . . once. Yes, I did."

"Liar."

"Maybe."

Just then, Rosalie burst in the room, looking very excited. Why is everyone in here? I moaned internally. "Whoa, party in Edward's room!" I said brightly.

Rosalie ignored my disgruntled tone. "You guys should get downstairs quick," she said exuberantly. "Carlisle and Esme have some big news!"

**A/N: Any guesses? Anyone? Do you know how to guess? It's easy . . . just let your mouse mosey down to the bottom of this page . . . click the REVIEW button . . . and I'll let your imagination take over the rest. And I'm willing to bet no one can guess. Ha-ha. And I only feel a little bit guilty over the cliffy******

**Sorry, this chapter is a little shorter than the others. And a little more boring. I didn't know what else to have them say/do, and I wanted to switch to Bella POV for the first day, so I just had to end the chapter. Ok, I know everyone says this, but review and I will update faster. It's true. Reviews bring incentive. Motivation. And a parade around the room. Please?**


	4. The School

**A/N: WHOA. That took me an INSANELY long time to update. Sorry sorry sorry! I'll try not to let it go that long again!**

**I just read the Maximum Ride series. It's really amazing! Read it!**

**Bella POV**

**First Day**

I nervously glanced in the mirror for the hundredth time that morning. I couldn't say I liked what I saw. I definitely didn't look prepared to receive a great amount of attention. I had tried my hair in a couple different styles the previous night, eventually deciding on leaving it down; there was no point of setting a façade that I spent an unnatural amount of time on my hair every morning. I wore my standard jeans and a T-shirt – at least, would soon become my generic outfit. In Phoenix it was spaghetti straps and shorts. In Phoenix, my pale skin could have a luminescent glow; here I had no color at all. Standing in front of the red towels of the bathroom, I looked like a snowman. I sighed. In Phoenix, everyone would know who I was.

Annabeth stuck her head in the doorway. "You look cute! Are you ready?" I inwardly steeled myself and slowly turned to face her. At least Annabeth was dressed as plainly as I was, even if it wasn't her first day. That made me feel a little better. A very little. Like Batman seeing Superman and thinking, Oh, it's okay, he's wearing underwear over his costume too.

I remembered Alice Cullen, and hoped people at school didn't dress as elaborately as she did.

I followed Annabeth down the stairs, and heaved a sigh as I donned my raincoat. While my cousin assured me I could remove it as soon as I entered the school building, it still seemed to weigh me down heavily.

"Better run for it," Annabeth advised, heaving open the front door. She sprinted out to her car, just a shadowy figure in the pouring rain, and after a moment's hesitation I followed. We drove away silently in Annabeth's beautiful Chevy Corvette**(A/N: My favorite car!!)**. She seemed to respect my need for silence, and it remained that way for the rest of the ride.

When we arrived, I was relieved to find a sea of black raincoats ahead of us; no one would be able to discern a new face in this crowd. But I was dismayed upon my first sight of the school. True, there was no graffiti stamped all over it like Phoenix, but the school there was also three times larger.

Annabeth ushered me toward a building that was decidedly student-free. My cheeks burned as I was physically steered in its direction. I could feel curious stares directed at us, and was again glad for the necessity of raincoats.

The moment we walked in, a red-headed woman with glasses swiveled around to regard us with interest. She looked like she recognized Annabeth. A knowing look entered her eyes, and she said off-handedly, "Can I help you?" I had the feeling she knew exactly what we were there for.

I let Annabeth do the talking. "Yes, this is my cousin, Isabella Swan." The woman's expression didn't change; she knew we were coming. In fact, she didn't even look away as she grabbed a well-thumbed paper from her desk (clean except for the one sheet).

She reached inside a drawer and took out a map of the school. I was surprised that the map wasn't drawn in actual size. It certainly seemed small enough to be able to fit on the map. She uncapped a highlighter and outlined certain classrooms on the map. "Here are your classes," she explained. "And you need each of your teachers to sign this slip and return it to me at the end of the day."

I smiled tentatively. "Thank you very much."

Annabeth led me back out into the rain. It had lessened by now, a slight mist brushing my face. Still, the unnatural cold was alien to my face, and I drew my hood low over my eyes.

Annabeth walked me in the direction of some buildings that were off the main building. I didn't hold out much hope that it would be warmer in those places, and pulled my coat tighter around me.

"Well, here's your class," Annabeth said, looking as though she were trying to suppress a grin. I swear she was enjoying my mounting panic. I would get her later.

"Can't you at least come in with me? I don't know _anyone_…"

"Well, believe me, not knowing anyone is way better than knowing some of the assholes here. Don't worry, though, they'll make sure they get to know you soon enough."

"Thanks a –"

Just then the bell rang. She gave a start of surprise. "Look, I've got to run. There's your classroom, in that building over there. I'll see you at lunch, alright? Just remember you can always sit with me if you didn't meet anyone by then. Good luck!"

"No, wait—" I watched her dash across the lawn towards the cafeteria, and disappear out of sight around the back. I wished I were allowed to skip a grade and switch to all Annabeth's classes. But that wouldn't be a good idea, I would probably fail out in one semester.

I trudged towards Building Number Three, feeling my heart sink down to pool somewhere around my ankles. The nervous butterflies in my stomach battered around. If I didn't know better I would say they were elephants instead of butterflies.

When I entered the classroom, I kept my head down and slunk across the room in a way that I imagined James Bond would. I didn't think any of the kids had noticed me, as they were all still chattering away. I found the teacher in the back, clicking on something furiously with his computer.

I consulted the schedule again. "Mr. Davies?" I said hesitantly.

He quickly closed out of his Pacman game and turned to me, clearing his throat. "Yes?"

"I'm Isabella Swan. Can you please sign this?"

He stared at me a moment too long (I blushed, of course) and signed the paper carefully, as though he were trying to do a good job. He then handed me a packet I assumed was the syllabus and sent me to a desk in the back. Kids were beginning to notice me by then. Kill me now.

"Are you Isabella Swan?" the guy next to me asked. At his words, all the kids in front of me turned to stare. I sighed inwardly, and directed my answer at the one who had asked, pointedly ignoring all the looks. I wasn't going to talk to anyone who didn't have the guts to speak to me.

"Actually, I prefer Bella."

He smiled. "I'm Eric."

I gave him a smile, probably equivalent to the ones that appeared on Englishmen's faces when they were put on the rack. But it was the best I could do under the circumstances. To my great relief, the teacher began lecturing then and I was able to drift in and out of concentration.

I think I was almost asleep when the bell rang to start break. I gathered my things slowly, only to realize that Eric was waiting by the door. He beamed. "What class do you have next?"

I consulted my list of classes, which suddenly appeared so boring that I would have to scrape a cheese grater against my forehead every day to incite any excitement. "Um, Home Ec," I replied. Oh, that brings back fond memories, smells of burned aprons and singed hair…

He looked disappointed. "Let me see your schedule."

"BELLA!" I heard a screech from afar. I looked up to find a Tasmanian devil whirling in my direction. Before I could back away, Alice was dragging me away from Eric, talking nonstop of course.

"Ohmigod, Bella, I have been looking all over for you! How come I didn't see you this morning? Ohhh, it's been ages since we've seen each other! How was your first class? What was it? Whoa, you got your schedule! Let me see it, c'mon, we need at least some classes together…" And then she was actually silent for a few milliseconds as she inspected the sheet of paper.

She squealed suddenly, shoving my schedule back at me. "We have two classes together! Yay! But not right now, so I'll just show you to your room now and then run off to mine! How was your first class?"

"I didn't really meet anyone. Except for a boy named Eric who seemed pretty nice. And the teacher was really weird, too."

"If you think that teacher was weird, just wait until your fifth period," she assured me. "You have Biology with both Edward and the gayest teacher in the school. They totally deserve each other. Anyway, here we are! I'll see you next class, we have it together!"

And she zoomed off. Then zoomed back. "Waait, I forgot to tell you! My parents just dropped the most exciting news _ever_! They're going out of town for two weeks! You just _have _to come over and hang out like, _every day_! Okay? Bye!" Gone again, leaving me. Was I not to know anyone in this class, either? I wouldn't even have the over-friendly Eric. Times were dark indeed if I was wishing for him.

My mood was quickly lifted as I heard my name yelled again when I entered the room. Emmett and Jasper were sitting at a table for six, waving eagerly. I quickly joined them. "Wow, you guys do Home Ec?" I said skeptically. It was pretty hilarious to imagine Emmett, the ultimate jock, whose anatomy resembled a bear more closely than a man, cooking in an apron.

"You bet!" Emmett said proudly. "Jasper told me it was the manliest class to take. I've got such a good brother. I signed up for the weights class, but then Jasper told me how the teacher throws bologna at you while you pump iron." He then got distracted by his reflection in the cooker stove next to our table and began smoothing back his hair.

"How in heck did you pull that off?" I hissed to Jasper, referring to Emmett's sad disillusionment. I almost felt bad for him; it seemed as though his siblings were always conspiring against him. But still, if he was happy then technically there was nothing wrong with the pranks.

"It was a bet. From Edward. I had no idea that he would fall for it, but he trusts all of us absolutely. Unfortunately I was pulled into the class with him. Esme made me. Like I said, she worries about the child of the family."

I rolled my eyes. Whatever. Personally, I thought that Emmett was just an example of what happens when you live with Alice for years. She kind of rubs off on you.

I caught my name in the sermon Mrs. Lybeck was preaching to us. She croaked it out, then paused a moment, apparently to attempt to catch her breath. Then she continued.

"Yes… Miss… Isabella Swan… is joining us this second semester… I hope… you'll join me in… welcoming her." She panted heavily. "Please… split into… groups of six… and use… this class period… to begin acquainting… yourselves with each other." Appearing exhausted, she disappeared in a back room.

Groups of six. Hmmm. That was problematic. I had noticed our table avoided by other classmates. Was that because of me or did the Cullens have B.O.?

But _fortunately _for us, a few brave souls headed over to save me from spending day after day _alone _with these two clowns. I recognized two of them from my first period class, and a third maybe.

"Hi, I'm Jessica," said the shortest one. "And this is Lauren, and Angela. I'm just sooo excited to meet you. I mean, _Arizona. _With _guys. _Geez, what was it _like_?" She was obviously the talker of the group.

I smiled, which probably came out more like a grimace, and resigned myself to interacting with a bunch of people I didn't know.


End file.
